Why You Need Gen Y Involved in Your Marketing NOW!

As a keynote speaker it is my job to bring some amazing content to every audience. Content that makes people go "REALLY? I did not know that..."

Recently I showed a list of companies that have failed miserably through the years. Companies along with their brands that failed to keep pace with 21st Century changes. Brands that Baby Boomers grew up with that were relevant, strong and household names. Brands like Spiegel, Blockbuster, Columbia House, S&H Greenstamps, Polaroid and Smith Corona. Usually I get a few gasps in the crowd as it becomes clear just how many of these companies are gone, struggling or devolved into a website. A shadow of their greatness. The glory days gone by.

As a Baby Boomer — the first generation raised by television commercials — we were taught to identify with our brands

From Twinkie's to Star Wars, Coca Cola to Tang, Led Zeppelin to The Police, Corvette to Cadillac, Baby Boomers have a love affair with the past...a nostalgic memory of a time when we could count on a delicious bowl of soup from the Campbell Soup Company. "Mmm, Mmm, Good."

To prove my point: take one of the brands or companies mentioned above and I guarantee you have one of their commercials stuck in your head.

"My bologna has a first name it's O...S...C..." Well you know the rest.

Some businesses survived while others did not. Take a look at some of the established companies we grew up with that reinvented themselves for the new Digital Customer: John Deere, Domino's Pizza and of course Cadillac. Someone in my last audience went "Cadillac???" Yes...and here is why...

What did Cadillac represent to a Baby Boomer? If was the car you bought when you were ready to retire. A boat with all the fancy gadgets money could buy. My grandfather wanted a Cadillac so bad when he hit his 60s it wasn't funny.

Cadillac was the car you bought when you reached retirement age

To reinvent their brand, Cadillac hired Minneapolis-based Fallon — the ad agency tasked with completing a decade-long makeover.

How did they decide to take the Cadillac image to another level? They put their trust in a 28-year-old Veda Partalo. Time to show the world this isn't your grandfather's Caddy. Instead of telling us, she showed us. The roar of the engine. The sleek designs. Powerful and hip. It is ENCHANTING.

Read the full article here:

Cadillac Turns To A 28-Year-Old To Reinvent The "Standard Of The World"

Now that doesn't mean traditional advertising or branding is dead. What it means is if you want to survive in the 21st Century, you have to add a brand campaign for the next generation. They've got money this group...And the best way to do that is put a Millennial in charge of your Next Generation Brand Roll Out.

Your like "Brad! You want me to put a 28 year old in charge of a multimillion dollar ad campaign?" Cadillac's sales are up 37% since Ms. Partalo took over. So, what do you think? Hell yea!

Thanks for stopping by,




Brad Szollose
21st Century Change Agent: Generational expert, award-winning author, business consultant and keynote speaker

Brad Szollose is a much sought-after generational expert, management consultant and keynote speaker who helps smart companies understand just how much technology has transformed corporate culture and behavior… and how that impacts management interaction, expectations and sales in The Digital Age.



But this is not based on management theory: With a 30 year career as an entrepreneur he knows firsthand what it’s like to grow a company from a simple idea in a coffee shop to an internationally recognized brand.


Brad is a former C-Level Internet Executive who went from entrepreneur to IPO in 3 yrs—co-founding K2 Design, the very first Dot Com Agency to go public on NASDAQ. His company experienced 425% hyper-growth for 5 straight years, expanded from 2 business partners to 4 with 60+ employees and offices worldwide. At its height, K2 was valuated at over $26 million. 

His results only management model (ROWE) was applied to the first wave of young Generation Y workers producing great results—winning K2 the Arthur Andersen NY Enterprise Award for Best Practices in Fostering Innovation.

Brad Szollose is also the *award-winning author of Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia which explores the subject of new leadership styles – mainly how to get the tech-savvy Generation Y and analogue driven Baby Boomers working together. ISBN-13: 978-1608320554

Known for his humorous and thought-provoking presentations, Szollose received the highest testimonial of his career from a C-Level audience member: "I just had my mind blown." Brad’s keynotes and workshops are highly interactive, heart-warming, humorous, and filled with high-content information that challenge assumptions and help leaders and managers create a better work environment for innovation to thrive.


Liquid Leadership has been called "THE guidebook for the 21st Century" and has won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal for leadership, The Indie Business Book runner up silver medal as well as becoming a #1 Best-Selling Business Book on Amazon for Organizational Learning. Published in the United States by Greenleaf Book Group, in India by Prolibris and in South Korea by UI Books/Iljinsa Publishing.

Mr. Szollose also writes a monthly column on business and marketing techniques that reach Generation Y for A Captured Mind newsletter and is part of The Mind Capture Group faculty.

Today, Brad helps businesses close the Digital Divide by understanding it as a Cultural Divide – created by the new tech-savvy worker...and customer. 



* 2011 Axiom Business Book silver medal winner in the leadership

* #1 Amazon Best-Selling Author

"I just had my mind blown..." - A.S., Vistage, New York

Liquid Leadership by Brad Szollose is available at all major bookstores and for Kindle, Nook, iPad and Sony ereaders. Internationally published in India and S. Korea.